Buffoons is a
show that rides on the element of surprise, a smart and complicated use
of props and a couple fun character pieces thrown in for good measure.

Seen April 13 at UCB Theatre, the first full sketch of Buffoons features
Eugene Cordero as a dog-like rapper employed at an ad agency who can’t
stop assaulting Bobby Moynihan’s prospective client character. The
situation gets more and more lunatic and frantic, and funny, but drops
off abruptly, as though the trio didn’t have an idea how to end it.

Sanders reprises his Charles Potamus character, (see
June 3, 2006 review of
solo show), and also introduces Corey, a comic book nerd who delivers a
series of non-sequiturs “Deep Thoughts”-style.

Moynihan himself gets to showcase two characters, one an apparent parody
of Josh Blue, the comedian who has cerebral palsy, which might seem like
a cruel premise, but Moynihan aims it more at the lameness of the
stand-up material -- the joke being akin to Sarah Silverman parodying
political correctness by saying “and by handicapped, I mean they can do
anything.”

But more successful for Moynihan is “Mark Payne,” an African-American
waiter of indeterminate sexuality with an exaggerated accent, obsessing
on various scattershot things to Sanders’ and Cordero’s customers, even
as he’s forgotten something very important -- this sketch has a clear
payoff.

The aforementioned props include a pitcher of water and a pyramid of
cups, used in the “Mark Payne” sketch, and a Jenga game Sanders plays
offhandedly as Moynihan keeps calling him on a phone asking him out
(cannot reveal the circumstances without ruining the surprise of the
sketch, but it’s got its own odd hilarity).

All the props then give the Buffoons something to play with the final
sketch of the show and the most kinetic of them all, in which Cordero
gives his all and milks the idea for all its worth as the audience keeps
reacting to what he does. Again, can’t spoil the surprise.

No upcoming scheduled performances for Buffoons, alas, but we'll try
to let you know when they do.